Employer Obligations in Turkey: 2026 Guide for Companies

Hiring your first employee in Türkiye is a milestone — and a legal turning point. The moment a foreign-owned company places someone on payroll in Istanbul, a dense web of employer obligations in Turkey attaches automatically, whether or not you have read the rulebook. Turkish labor and social-security law is protective, prescriptive, and actively enforced, and the cost of getting it wrong is financial, retroactive, and sometimes personal. If you run a foreign-invested company and want to build a compliant team here, this 2026 guide explains what the law actually requires and where the real risks sit.

Key Takeaways: What You Need to Know

• Foreign-owned companies are treated as ordinary Turkish employers — the same Labor Law No. 4857 and social-security duties apply in full.

• Each worker must be notified to the Social Security Institution (SGK) before the employment starts, not after (Law No. 5510, Article 8).

• The minimum wage takes effect on publication in the Official Gazette, so payroll must follow the figure in force for each pay period.

• Notice periods are statutory minimums, and severance pay is due whenever employment ends on one of the grounds listed in Article 14 of Law No. 1475.

• Every employer within the scope of Law No. 6331, whatever its size, must carry out or commission an occupational health and safety risk assessment.

• Non-compliance triggers fines tied to the minimum wage, late-payment surcharges and back-pay claims, and unpaid premiums can be pursued against senior managers personally.

Who Must Comply: Foreign-Owned Companies Are Treated Like Any Turkish Employer

A common and expensive misconception among international founders is that a foreign-owned entity enjoys a lighter regulatory touch. It does not. Once your company is registered in Turkey — whether a limited liability company (LLC) or a joint-stock company (JSC) — and it employs staff who work here, it is a Turkish employer for all purposes under Labor Law No. 4857 (İş Kanunu) and Social Security Law No. 5510.

Article 1 of the Labor Law applies it to all workplaces, their employers and workers, whatever their field of activity, subject only to the exceptions in Article 4. Nothing in that scope turns on the nationality of your shareholders. Choosing the right legal vehicle at the outset — see our guide on company formation in Turkey — shapes your tax profile, but it does not reduce your obligations as an employer. Setting these duties up correctly from the first hire is where advice from a corporate lawyer in Turkey is most useful.

SGK Registration: Your First and Most Time-Sensitive Duty

Before an employee begins work, you must notify them to the Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu (SGK — Social Security Institution). Article 8 of Law No. 5510 requires the employee-entry declaration (sigortalı işe giriş bildirgesi) to be filed before the date the insured employment starts. One relief matters to a new company: at a workplace filing its first workplace notification, the declaration for an employee who starts within the first month of hiring counts as timely if it reaches SGK by the end of that month.

Each month the employer then deducts the employee's share of the premiums from wages, adds its own share and pays the total by the day SGK sets (Article 88), and reports each worker's days and earnings, either in the monthly premium and service document or in the combined withholding and premium-service return (muhtasar ve prim hizmet beyannamesi) (Article 86).

• Workplace registration: the workplace notification (işyeri bildirgesi) is due at the latest on the day you start employing insured staff; for a newly incorporated company, the incorporation filing with the trade registry counts as that notification (Article 11).

• Employee entry: file the işe giriş bildirgesi before the employee starts (Article 8).

• Monthly declaration and payment: report days and earnings and pay both shares of the premiums every month (Articles 86 and 88).

• Employee exit: file the işten çıkış bildirgesi within ten days of the end of the employment (Article 9).

The penalties in Article 102 are multiples of the monthly minimum wage rather than fixed sums: one month's minimum wage per worker for a late or defective entry declaration, and twice that where an inspection or official data shows no declaration was filed at all. Unpaid premiums attract late-payment surcharges (gecikme cezası and gecikme zammı) under Article 89. Under Article 88, where premiums go unpaid without just cause, board members, senior managers and legal representatives become jointly and severally liable with the company. Directors face separate risks too; see our guide on the personal criminal liability of company directors in Turkey.

Setting up SGK registration for a new foreign-owned entity in Istanbul? Contact Istanbul Attorneys to structure your onboarding correctly from the first hire: +90 850 242 4043 | WhatsApp

Payroll, Withholding, and the Minimum Wage

As an employer you are the collection agent for the Turkish state. From each salary you withhold income tax (gelir vergisi stopajı) and stamp tax (damga vergisi) where due, together with the employee's share of social-security and unemployment-insurance premiums (Law No. 4447, Article 49), and remit them with your own contributions.

Under Article 32 of the Labor Law, wages are paid as a rule in Turkish lira, at the workplace or into a bank account opened for that purpose; a salary agreed in foreign currency may be paid in lira at the rate on the payment day. Wages must be paid at least monthly, and Article 37 requires a signed or stamped payslip showing the pay period, every addition to basic pay and every deduction.

How the Minimum Wage and the Premium Ceiling Work

The minimum wage is determined through the Minimum Wage Determination Commission at least once every two years, and its decisions take effect on publication in the Official Gazette (Labor Law Article 39). Paying below it is an administrative offence under Article 102 of the Labor Law. We do not print the figure here because it changes by Official Gazette notice.

For social security, daily earnings subject to premiums have a lower limit of one-thirtieth of the minimum wage and, since 1 January 2026, an upper limit of nine times that lower limit for insured persons over 16 (Law No. 5510, Article 82, as amended by Law No. 7566). Earnings above the ceiling attract no premiums; below the floor, the employer pays the premiums on the difference. Because these parameters change by statute and by Official Gazette notice, payroll built on last year's figures quickly falls out of compliance. Payroll data is also personal data; see our note on KVKK compliance for foreign companies.

Employment Contracts, Records and Working Time

A contract for one year or more must be made in writing (Labor Law Article 8). Where no written contract is made, the employer must give the employee, within two months, a written document setting out the working conditions, working time, basic wage, pay period and termination rules. A post-employment non-compete must be undertaken in writing and is valid only where the job gave access to customers or trade secrets whose use could seriously harm the employer (Code of Obligations Article 444); see our guide to non-compete clauses for employees.

Working time is capped at 45 hours a week (Article 63). Work beyond 45 hours is overtime, paid at the hourly rate plus 50%; the employee's consent is required, and overtime may not exceed 270 hours a year (Article 41). Employees are entitled to an uninterrupted weekly rest of at least 24 hours in each seven-day period (Article 46).

Annual paid leave accrues after one year of service and cannot be waived: at least 14 days for one to five years, 20 days for more than five and less than fifteen years, and 26 days for fifteen years or more, with a floor of 20 days for employees aged 18 or under or 50 or over (Article 53). Unused leave is paid out when the contract ends (Article 59). Since Law No. 7578 took effect on 1 May 2026, maternity protection covers 24 weeks, eight before and sixteen after the birth (Article 74), and an employee whose spouse gives birth receives ten days' paid leave (Additional Article 2).

Occupational Health and Safety under Law No. 6331

Law No. 6331 applies to all public and private workplaces and all their employees, including apprentices and interns. Under Article 4 the employer must ensure employees' health and safety; hiring outside providers does not remove that responsibility, and the cost of safety measures may not be passed on to employees. The employer must appoint an occupational safety specialist and a workplace physician, from its own staff or through a joint health and safety unit (Article 6), carry out or commission a risk assessment (Article 10), train employees before they start work, counting training time as working time (Article 17), and set up a health and safety committee where 50 or more employees work in permanent activities lasting more than six months (Article 22).

A work accident must be reported to the local police immediately and to SGK within three working days (Law No. 5510, Article 13; Law No. 6331, Article 14); an occupational disease must be reported within three working days of the employer learning of it.

Ending Employment: Notice, Severance and Job Security

An indefinite-term contract must be ended with notice under Article 17 of the Labor Law: two weeks for service under six months, four weeks from six months to a year and a half, six weeks from a year and a half to three years, and eight weeks beyond three years. These are minimums that a contract may lengthen. A party that ignores notice owes compensation equal to the wages for the notice period.

In a workplace with 30 or more workers, dismissing an employee with at least six months' service under an indefinite-term contract requires a valid reason linked to capability, conduct or the needs of the business (Article 18). The notice must be in writing and state the reason clearly, and a dismissal for conduct or performance requires the employee's defence first (Article 19). The employee may apply to a mediator within one month of the notice, and the employer bears the burden of proving the reason (Article 20). If the dismissal is held invalid and the employee is not taken back within one month of applying, compensation of four to eight months' wages is due (Article 21). Summary dismissal for the misconduct grounds in Article 25(II) must follow within six working days of learning of the act and, unless the employee gained a material benefit, within one year of the act (Article 26).

Severance pay (kıdem tazminatı)

Severance is still governed by Article 14 of the former Labor Law No. 1475, kept in force by Article 120 of Law No. 4857. It is due where the contract ends on a listed ground, including dismissal other than for the misconduct grounds now in Article 25(II), resignation for just cause under Article 24, military service, retirement, a female employee leaving within one year of marriage, or death. The amount is 30 days' wage for each full year of service, based on the last wage plus money-measurable benefits, and the annual amount is capped by reference to the maximum retirement bonus for the highest-ranking civil servant, a figure revised periodically.

A release (ibraname) signed by the employee is void unless it is in writing, at least one month has passed since the contract ended, the type and amount of the claim are stated, and the full amount is paid through a bank (Code of Obligations Article 420). Severance, notice compensation, bad-faith compensation and unused-leave pay are subject to a five-year limitation period (Additional Article 3 of Law No. 4857). Before most such claims reach a labor court, applying to a mediator is a precondition under Article 3 of the Labor Courts Law No. 7036; claims arising from work accidents and occupational diseases are excluded.

Key Employer Deadlines at a Glance

Common questions about this topic

Do foreign-owned companies in Turkey have the same employer obligations as Turkish companies?

Yes. The Labor Law covers every workplace within its scope and makes no exception for foreign shareholders, so a Turkish LLC or JSC with staff working here carries the same labor, payroll and social-security duties as a domestically owned company.

When must I register a new employee with the SGK?

Before the employment starts, under Article 8 of Law No. 5510. A workplace notifying SGK for the first time has until the end of its first month of hiring for staff who start in that month. Missing the deadline triggers a fine linked to the minimum wage for each worker concerned.

What is the minimum wage in Turkey for 2026?

It is set by the Minimum Wage Determination Commission and applies from publication in the Official Gazette, so use the rate in force for the pay period in question. We do not quote it here because it can change during the year. It also sets the lower limit of the earnings on which SGK premiums are charged.

How is severance pay calculated in Turkey?

Under Article 14 of Law No. 1475, the employee receives 30 days' wage for each full year of service, with any period beyond a full year paid at the same rate, on the last wage plus money-measurable benefits and subject to a periodically revised ceiling. It is due only where the employment ends on a ground listed in that Article, and an employee with less than one full year of service is not entitled to it.

Can my Turkish company hire foreign employees?

Yes, but under Article 6 of the International Labour Force Law No. 6735, a foreign national within its scope may not work, or be employed, in Türkiye without a work permit unless another law or an international agreement provides otherwise. See our separate guide on work permits for foreign employees.

What happens if I fail to register an employee with the SGK?

Article 102 of Law No. 5510 imposes a fine for each unregistered worker, rising to twice the monthly minimum wage where an inspection or official data reveals the failure. SGK can also assess the unpaid premiums with late-payment surcharges, and after mandatory mediation the employee can claim unpaid entitlements before the labor court.

Can I dismiss an employee in Turkey without giving a reason?

Where 30 or more workers are employed and the employee has at least six months' service under an indefinite-term contract, the employer needs a valid reason stated in writing. Below those thresholds no valid reason is required, but notice still applies, severance may be due, and an abusive dismissal costs three times the notice-period wage.

This guide is general information on Turkish law, not legal advice on your own matter. Rules and practice change; check the position before you act.